Chiba man arrested for stalking, threatening woman

CHIBA – A man from Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, has been arrested on suspicion of stalking a woman by bombarding her with emails, becoming the first person to be held under a revision to the anti-stalking law that took effect last month, police said.

Keiji Shirakawa, 40, who described himself as a company executive, allegedly sent 23 messages to a woman in her 20s from Chiba Prefecture, threatening her if she didn’t respond. The messages were sent between 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, police said Thursday.

According to the police, the woman became acquainted with Shirakawa in 2008 when he visited her workplace as a customer.

The woman went to a nearby police box Tuesday to report that she saw Shirakawa waiting in ambush that afternoon near her workplace.

Upon instructions from officers, the woman asked Shirakawa not to send her any more emails, but he ignored the request, according to the police.

The man reportedly denied the charges, saying he needed to get in touch with her.